What are you currently reading?

[vers la flamme]

Yes you do because the abridged version doesn't have enough description of romances and psychology. Readers better read the entire book. Especially it will guide and help young readers, imo.

Thanks, I'll look for an unabridged copy.

[AnotherSpin]

Untouched Nature, spaciousness, the absence of human created objects.

I see what you mean, ok.

[Florestan]

Untouched Nature, spaciousness, the absence of human created objects.

Really? How about the clothes, the boots and the stick worn by that guy? Moreover, his whole attitude is that of a conqueror, contemplating the remnants of a vanquished army: Napoleon at Austerlitz seen from behind.

[AnotherSpin]

Really? How about the clothes, the boots and the stick worn by that guy? Moreover, his whole attitude is that of a conqueror, contemplating the remnants of a vanquished army: Napoleon at Austerlitz seen from behind.

Stick?

[Florestan]

Stick?

[AnotherSpin]

Yes, but I do not see any on a picture.

[steve ridgway]

Really? How about the clothes, the boots and the stick worn by that guy?

The absence of human created objects seen from that person's perspective.

[Florestan]

Yes, but I do not see any on a picture.

His right hand leans on one.

[DavidW]

His right hand leans on one.

That is called a cane FYI.

[Florestan]

That is called a cane FYI.

I was not quite sure stick was the right word but I could not remember the proper one. Cane indeed, thank you.

[Wendell_E]

I was not quite sure stick was the right word but I could not remember the proper one. Cane indeed, thank you.

There are walking sticks and walking canes, for different purposes.

Quoting from a website:

A walking cane is a mobility device designed as a long-term aid for balance as well as to relieve pressure on a leg joint while walking. A walking stick, in comparison, is used to temporarily help with footing and stability when walking on rough or uneven terrain.

I'm guessing a guy who can make it to the top of a mountain is using a walking stick, rather than a cane.

[Florestan]

There are walking sticks and walking canes, for different purposes.

Quoting from a website:

I'm guessing a guy who can make it to the top of a mountain is using a walking stick, rather than a cane.

Interesting, thanks.

In Romanian there is no such difference: either as a support for older or invalid people, or as a tool for rough and uneven terrain, or even as an elegant accessory, there is one single word for all: baston.

[AnotherSpin]

Interesting, thanks.

In Romanian there is no such difference: either as a support for older or invalid people, or as a tool for rough and uneven terrain, or even as an elegant accessory, there is one single word for all: baston.

I think there must be difference in Russian. "Трость" is derived from тростник (cane) and "палка".

[DavidW]

I guess I thought of a stick as a found object like a tree limb and a cane was carefully made.  Now I know different!

[Florestan]

I guess I thought of a stick as a found object like a tree limb and a cane was carefully made.  Now I know different!

Romanian has indeed a different word for that: băț.

[Iota]

Interesting.  As someone who uses a walking stick for mobility, I was a little surprised to read this distinction.  I guess it's a US usage.  Here I think it's right to say it's the other way round: that cane carries implications of thin and flexible, whereas stick denotes something substantial and rigid.  Long time ago when I first started to need assistance, I was issued the best that they could find around the place at the time, which was very much a cane - it even looked like it was made of bamboo - and would not have been out of place in a Fred Astaire dance number.  And snapped in two the moment I tried to put my weight on it.  Since when I have used an inch-think stick made from a branch of some kind of hardwood, which will take my full weight without flinching (and on many occasions has done so. )

Just to complicate matters further, my partner, who has issues with her knees, uses very fancy adjustable spring-loaded sticks made from some lightweight alloy when out hill-walking.  These apparently are poles.

Yes indeed, in the UK in my experience at least, a cane is a fashion/style statement (unless an instrument of punishment typically for schoolboys, now thankfully banned ..), and a walking stick a physical necessity for walking. There's also a shepherd's crook, which is wagged at sheep or used to catch them around the neck or legs,  in order to get them to behave in the manner of your desiring, but which can handily double up as a bit of walking support for tired legs ..

[Wendell_E]

Yes indeed, in the UK in my experience at least, a cane is a fashion/style statement

Certainly, it's also used in that sense in the U.S. I'm thinking of Fred Astaire and Mr. Peanut, with their top hats and canes.

[SimonNZ]

Starting: yet another from last year's Baille Gifford longlist, and the last to do from the shortlist:

[ritter]

Starting: yet another from last year's Baille Gifford longlist, and the last to do from the shortlist:

That looks interesting, Simon. I've read a lot on (and by) Balanchine's "partner in crime", the fascinating Lincoln Kirstein. I should complement that with Homan's book.

[ritter]

Starting Harvey Sachs' Music in Fascist Italy.



Reasonably priced copies (or copies with reasonable shipping costs) are surprisingly  difficult to find. Very strange. I could order this from AbeBooks in the UK and have it delivered to Scotland, where my partner was spending some days visiting his mother.

The book is well written and readable. I'm well into the first chapter, "The Terrain", in which Mussolini's rise to power, and the musical politics of his regime, are described.

Mr. Sachs (best known for his biography of Toscanini) mentions —in laudatory terms— the other major book on the subject, Fiamma Nicolodi's Musica e musicisti nel ventennio fascista. I was not that enthusiastic about that book. It certainly contains some valuable information, but it read like a disjointed collection of anecdotes, with no clear narrative to it.